Inspiration
My inspiration was seeing Temple students post on Snapchat or Yik Yak items that students lost. However, I know that many people at Temple don't have these apps or don't check them frequently. Other than social media, there aren't many physical lost & found locations on campus. I thought of this idea so that anyone on campus may post and find lost items, regardless of whether they downloaded an app or not. Since it is a website, it is more accessible.
What it does
Users are required to have a valid Temple email to sign in and post on the database. The main page has a collection of every item posted along with relevant info, such as the location it was found, the time and date it was found, and the email of the person who uploaded the item for contact. Additionally, it uses Google's Maps API to track where every item was found. This can be used for data analysis regarding where items are commonly lost, so a physical lost and found can be made, or for directions.
How we built it
I used HTML to create the frontend of the website and used Node.js and MongoDB for the backend. I also utilized Google's Maps API to create the interactive map.
Challenges we ran into
One challenge I ran into was uploading new items into MongoDB and displaying them. At first, it kept displaying error messages, saying that there was an error connecting to the database. This error ended up being caused by a simple typo, although it was difficult to figure out where the error was coming from because I was using the appropriate functions and commands.
Another challenge I ran into was trying to allow users to upload images. It was complicated to find how to parse out image file data into HTML, so I settled for allowing users to upload the image's URL. Although this isn't the most convenient method, I compromised convenience for functionality because of the limited time frame.
Finally, another big challenge I ran into displaying each item on the interactive Google Maps. If multiple items were indicated to be found in the same location, multiple markers would not appear on the map. This is a problem I have not solved yet, so if I were to continue working on this project, that would be one of the first things I would fix.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
I am proud of creating a dynamically updating database that anyone at Temple can add to, view, and filter through in order to find lost items around campus. I am also proud of the interactive map, although a little buggy. This map can be good data to use for analysis.
What we learned
I learned how to utilize Google's various APIs and gained more experience working with MongoDB.
What's next for Temple University Lost and Found Database
Fixing the image file upload, fixing the interactive map markers, allowing users to delete items that were already found and returned to the original owner, and connecting TUPortal's Accessnet login to the website. Hopefully, this website can become fully functioning for students and maybe even expand throughout other colleges in Philadelphia.
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